Women's T20 World Cup: Indian pacer Pooja Vastrakar ruled out of semi-final, Sneh Rana to replace her
Hours before the nerve-wracking semi-final clash between India and Australia at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, Team India faced yet another challenge as lead India pacer Pooja Vastrakar will not play the semifinal match due to an upper respiratory tract infection.
On BCCI’s request, the Event Technical Committee of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 has approved Sneh Rana as a replacement for Pooja Vastrakar in the India squad. Off-spin bowling all-rounder Sneh Rana has featured in 47 internationals including 24 T20Is and was a part of India’s travelling reserves.
Pooja Vastrakar has been a part of all of India’s group-stage games and has taken two wickets with a bowling average of 44.5 in this T20 tournament. She had already not been a part of India’s warm-up for the World Cup as she had been undergoing treatment for a knee injury since October.
She received her fitness clearance prior to the World Cup and was therefore included in the team. It might be said that Pooja has not been at her career best in the previous matches but is still one of the key players with the new ball, which could increase India’s chances of winning the semi finale.
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Pooja, along with captain Harmanpreet Singh and spinner Radha Yadav, visited a local hospital in Cape Town on Wednesday for a check-up.
To add to the Indian team’s concerns, Captain Harmanpreet is suffering from a high fever, and the medical team is unsure whether she will be fit enough for the semi-finals in a couple of hours.
If she doesn’t recover in time, then vice-captain Smriti Mandhana will take over as captain for India, who are aiming to make this their third successive T20 World Cup title win. The reports state that if Harmanpreet misses out, Harleen Deol will be included as a like-for-like replacement.
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